Shabbat Shalom! Please open your Bibles to the book of Nehemiah. We are going to continue today to deal with the second half of Nehemiah chapter 4 from verse 10 to the end of the chapter. Nehemiah chapter 4 is a chapter that deals with the enemies of the Jewish people that have existed in the land of Israel when the people of Judah returned to the land to rebuild the walls and the gates. And immediately we discovered that Israel had enemies that sought to destroy them and to stop the work that Israel were doing in building that wall. So let me read now, Nehemiah 4 and verse 10. And we read, And Judah said, The strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed, and there is much rubbish, so that we are not able to build the wall.

And our adversaries said, They shall not know, neither see, till we come in the midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease. And it came to pass, that when the Jews which dwelt by them came, they said unto us ten times, From all places, whence ye shall return unto us, they will be upon you. Therefore, set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them.

Remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses. And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to naught, that we return all of us to the wall, every one unto his work. And it came to pass, from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the armor. And the rulers were behind all the houses of Judah. They which builded on the wall, and they that bear burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand he held a weapon.

For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. And I said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, the work is great and large. And we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. In what place, therefore, ye hear the sound of the trumpet? We sought ye thither unto us, for our God shall fight for us. So we labored in the work. And half of them held spears from the rising of the morning until the stars appeared. Likewise, at the same time said I unto the people, Let every one with his servant lodge within Jerusalem, that in the night they may be a guard to us, and labor on the day.

So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes, saving that every one put them off for washing. And so I'm stopping in the reading here. Now, if we would have been there after the 70 years of the captivity in Babylon, and to rebuild the temple first, now the wall with Nehemiah, we would have realized the tremendous amount of pressure and difficult time that these Jewish people have had. We began if Nehemiah was concerned about the situation that existed in Jerusalem. The walls of Jerusalem were broken down. The gates were burned with fire.

And the people of Judah was exposed to the enemies without. They could not enjoy safety and security because there was no walls, there was no gate. So finally, Nehemiah received the instruction and the command from Artaxexus to go back to the land of Israel to begin to build the walls of Jerusalem. And they surely did in chapter 3 of our study. They built all the walls into half of the height and they set up the gates. And immediately in chapter 4, you find out that enemies began to oppose him. We made the application in the things of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. You and I as believers in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah will notice this in our lives.

If we are going to try to build something for the Lord, if we are going to try to live and to follow after the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, immediately you will see that we will have enemies who will oppose our walk with the Lord. And as we mentioned before, every one of us have three enemies. Number one is the old nature that we have. Number two is the world around us. And number three is Satan himself who oppose the building of the house of the Lord every time. And if we are not going to be alert, wise and careful and prayerful and watchful, we will end up to be defeated in a practical way.

We know that very well. How many a time the people of God who are saved and are going to go to heaven as a sure thing on the basis of their faith in Yeshua the Messiah, we oftentimes live a defeated life as believers. No power to serve the Lord. No energy to minister to God's people. Why? Because we allow the enemy to discourage us and to cause us to be defeated. And here we see this, brothers and sisters, if there is anything more practical than this, you will never find anywhere more practical reality in the life of God's people. These were Jewish people who were called to go back to the promised land.

And yet enemies attacked them. Later on in chapter five, we'll find out that the enemies are from within. But in this case, it was the enemies from without. And so the first nine verses in our previous ministry meeting together, we have talked about this man by the name of Sambalat. Notice in verse seven, it said that it came to pass that when Sambalat and Tuvaya and the Arabians and the Amorites and the Ashdodai heard that the wall of Jerusalem were made up and that the breaches began to be stopped, then they were very wroth. They were very angry. Why they were angry? Because they were jealous over the fact that the people of Israel are building the wall and the breaches are closed.

And soon enough, they will not be able to attack them and defeat them. So they were angry and they made a plan. What was their plan? Notice in verse eight, they conspired all of them together to come and to fight against Jerusalem and to hinder that. Nevertheless, we made our prayers unto our God and set a watch. And that's where we stopped in our previous ministry that they made a plan. You see, you and I don't even realize how many plans the enemy of God is preparing for your life, for my life, for your family, for my family, for your spiritual welfare, for my spiritual welfare.

The enemy is preparing to attack the people of God at all times from the day that you became a believer till the day that the Lord will take you to glory, to heaven. He attacked us in every form and shape. And no wonder we can see the condition of the body of Messiah today who is in many ways defeated, discouraged and very little spiritual power to walk for the Lord. We don't need to speak about anybody else. We know this in our very own hearts. Because we know ourself. We know our own hearts. And yet, there is a man like Nehemiah. His name meaning the comfort of Jehovah.

Whom God had raised in the midst of his own people to comfort the people of God and to minister to them so they can continue on to follow the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and to build the walls of the city of Jerusalem. And so he came. And he was such an encouragement. And I mentioned many times, we need Nehemiahs in our meetings. We need Nehemiahs in our friendships. We need Nehemiah, whether it is a male or female, brother or sister, to be men and women of God that encourage the saints of God to continue to walk with the Lord. If you remember Devorah, she was called a mother in Israel.

And you sisters have the very same responsibility to be a blessing to the people of God who are so discouraged today wherever they are. To be an encouragement to the body of Mashiach, to the body of Messiah. So in these next verses, verses 10 to 23, we can see that Judah, especially verses 10, 11 and 12, you can see that the people of Judah began to be discouraged. Look at this. Look at verse 10. It says, "And Judah said the strength of the bearers of burdens is decayed. And there is much rubbish, so we are not able to build a wall." You see, immediately there was discouragement. Wow! Look at this.

There is no more strength. The people who carry the burdens, in other words, they were bringing bricks and stones and sand to build the wall again, the wall of Jerusalem. They began to be discouraged. They didn't have much strength. Because there was a lot of labor. And brothers and sisters, I'm going to tell you, if you're going to serve our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, you're going to see how much energy is going to sup from you. Serving the Lord and building the body of Messiah takes a lot of energy. It takes commitment. It takes disappointment. It takes all sorts of things that one will be discouraged.

And at times we say, "What's the use? I don't want to go to meetings. And I don't want to read my Bible. And I don't want to talk to him. And I don't want to talk to her. And there's too much opposition. I can't take it anymore." Discouragement came. And there's so much rubbish to deal with. And rubbish, the Hebrew word is afar. Afar simply means ground, sand. You know, God made men out of the dust of this earth. There's a lot of sand. There's a lot of ground. There's a lot of rubbish. And to carry, and to load it, and to bring it to the wall area, and to start to build the wall, it takes a lot of effort.

And so it kind of discouraged these believers, these Jewish people at that time. And so many of them began to be discouraged. And they say, "What's the use? Should we continue on?" And notice it says in verse 11 that the plan of the Jewish enemies, the Jews' enemies, because immediately in verse 11 it says, "Our adversaries said: "They shall not know, neither see, till we come in a midst among them, and slay them, and cause the work to cease." See, the enemies were planning. This is Sanbalat, Tuvaya, the Arabians, the Ammonites, the Ashdodites, and what we really have, the ancient Samaritans, the Shomronim, who were a mixed breed.

They really were an enemy of our Jewish people from ages to ages, since the time that the tribes of Israel have separated the Northern Kingdom, the Southern Kingdom. And those people opposed the Jewish people who wanted to rebuild the wall in Jerusalem. And the adversary says, "You know, they will not know until we come in a midst among them, we're going to slay them, and we're going to stop the work of the Lord." And this is exactly what they planned. And so when you hear your enemy is going to come, and you know what he's planning, and the walls are not set up, there are still cracks in the wall, there are still areas that are not completely built up, they can just go over the wall and come and destroy the people of God, the people of Judah.

They had intended to slay the people of Judah. And you notice the word "adversaries." That comes from the Hebrew word "sarenu." There is an expression that we have in the book of Esther, "zorer ha-yehudim." The enemy of the Jews. There was a man in the time of Esther. He was the enemy of the Jewish people. The same root word "zorer ha-yehudim." The adversary of the Jewish people. His name was Haman. He opposed the Jewish people. Twice we read about him as the enemy of the Jews. In Esther chapter 3 and verse 10. In Esther chapter 8 and verse 1. Here we have an additional enemies. All of them were ready to come into the midst of the people of Israel and notice they wanted to slay them.

Number one. Number three. They wanted to cause the work of the building of the walls of Jerusalem to stop. And isn't it the same thing, beloved brothers and sisters, in the life of the people of God, the body of Messiah? We also have enemies that are trying to stop us from building. From progressing to stop us from glorifying our Lord Yeshua the Messiah in the midst of his own people. And so he is seeking to attack. He can never take the salvation of a true believer away from him. But he can sure allow us to experience lack of joy and lack of enjoyment of what Yeshua has done for us.

And why I am saying that he can never take away the salvation of anyone who is a true believer. Because the Lord Yeshua himself said, "My sheep are my voice and I know them and I'll give unto them eternal life. And they shall never perish and no one is able to pluck them out of my hand." Once you and I became children of God, we have belonged to him for eternity. Not because you are good. Not because I am good. Not because of your work. Not because of my work. It's because of the work that Yeshua have done for us on the tree. But he is sure the enemy of the people of God can cause us a lot of havoc in the midst of our walk with the Lord.

And sometime, beloved brothers and sisters, I want to say that some of the things become like an enemy to us in our lives are things that are very fundamental. Let me give you an example. Things that become the enemies in the life of the people of God is false teachings. If somebody comes and teaches us false teachings, it becomes an animosity to the spiritual growth of the people of God. What about worldliness? John said to us, "Love not the world, nor the things which 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." Not of the Father.

It is of the world. What about legalism? Things that are not biblical, but sound very religious, but not sound, not comes from the Word of God. What about liberalism? Everything goes as if we don't have the Bible to teach us the truth of God. What about the fact that coldness in our hearts, no affection towards the Lord. We are so cold. We are so indifferent to the things of the Lord. Oh yes, we are saved. I got my place in heaven. I'm going to be there, but never spiritual growth and never appreciation of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. What about divisions? The body of Messiah is often being divided in so many ways because we haven't submitted to the will of the Lord and we allow ourselves to be those source of divisions among the people of God.

These are some of the enemies that you and I experience today. What about closed Bible? We go to church meetings, but we don't need a Bible. We belong to Yeshua, but we don't need a Bible. You notice that every time that we come to our meeting, we read the Bible. We open the Word of God, the Tanakh, the Brit HaNashah, because the Word of God is the source of instruction to the people of God. The prophets of Israel spoke about the Word of God. The psalmist of Israel spoke about the Word of God. The Word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

We read in Psalm 119. And we can just go on. It's not only persons who become as enemies of the people of God, but certain things in our lives. I mention false teaching, worldliness, legalism, liberalism, coldness, divisions, and a Bible not read and not taught. This is exactly what is in danger of us today. We don't build a wall with cement and stones and sand. The house of God is a spiritual house today. And we are to build that spiritual house and to be used by the Lord for the glory of the Lord and for the blessing of the people of God. The apostles said to Timothy in 1 Timothy chapter 3 and verse 15.

If I tarry long, the dharmists know how you are to behave in the house of God. What is the house of God, Paul gives us? Which is the church or the assembly of the living God, the ecclesia. This is the pillar and the ground of the truth. That is the house of God. And we are responsible today to participate in the building of the house of God. The ecclesia, the assembly, the believers, the body of Messiah. And so here are those enemies coming and you see they said we are going to come against them. And you see they are aware of it. We are going to slay them.

This is verse 11. And we are going to stop the work in verse 11. Now what's happening usually when the work is stopping? The people are scattered. And there is no progress. People are not developed spiritually. There is no service among the believers. The gospel is not being preached. Therefore there is not new people come to know the Lord and a growth among the people of God. That's what happened. That was the plan of the enemies of the people of Judah in the days of Nehemiah. And that is the plan of the enemy of the people of God today in our days of age, of the ecclesia days.

The enemy wants to destroy the work of the Lord. And we need to be aware of it, beloved brothers and sisters. And I just wanted to mention that sometimes the enemy will try to destroy the people of God. But God has a plan. And he is going to fulfill his promises to Israel, the nation, and to the body of Messiah. As Yeshua said in Matthew 16:18, "The gates of Hades shall not prevail against the assembly, the church." And when God said through the prophet Jeremiah about Israel, that even if you can measure the heights from the heaven to earth, then I will cast Israel from being a nation.

But we can't measure. And therefore God has a plan to restore Israel back to himself, even though the enemies will seek to attack. And moving along, the people of Judah began to be discouraged. Verses 10, 11. Notice what it says in verse 12. The Jews who dwelt by the enemies, they came and they appealed to Nehemiah. It says in verse 12, "And it came to pass that when the Jews which dwelt by the adversary, by them, when they came, they said unto us ten times, from all the places whence ye shall return unto us, they will be upon us." Apparently some of the Jewish community, of course, lived outside of Jerusalem.

Judea and the area of Samaria. So they were neighbors to Sanbalat, to Tuvaya, to the Arabians, to the Amorites, to the Ashdodites. And they hear them saying, "Oh, we're going to make a plan. We are going to come to destroy the people of Judah. We're going to stop their job of the building of the walls." So they came ten times unto Nehemiah and the leaders of Judah. And they said to them, "Listen, everywhere, wherever you are going to live, they are going to come there and attack." And you notice that what happens, usually it is like that. When the Lord raises some leaders, when the leaders are not around, then the enemy finds an opportunity to attack those that are the sheep that are without the shepherd, you might say.

And that's why we need to depend upon the Lord, but we should never depend only on one man. We should all grow together and all mature, so we will be alert in case some false things are coming in the midst of God's people. And that's why Nehemiah, he could not be everywhere. Imagine the walls of Jerusalem, the many gates that are there. He couldn't be everywhere, standing there and observing and watching. He couldn't do so. He was one single man. But he sought to instruct the people of Israel to protect themselves and to beware of the enemy that will seek to attack. And so we read now, beloved brothers and sisters, we continue down in verses 13, 14, and 15.

Nehemiah has a plan to protect the people of Judah and to progress in the building of the walls of Jerusalem. He has his own plan. He trusts the Lord, of course, but he introduced this to the people of Judah. It's so nice to see, first of all, you notice, he's arranging them by their families. It says in verse 13, "Therefore set I the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places, I even set the people after their family with their swords, with their spears, and with their bows." First of all, he put them behind the wall, not on the outside, but on the inside of the wall of Jerusalem.

Maybe there was an area that was very low, it would not rise high above so much, but he put them on the inside in order for them to be not exposed to the enemies that are planning to come and to attack. You notice that he also put the people after their families. So you have the mother, the father, the children, the grandparents, all together in one area where they are building the wall of Jerusalem, close to their homes, and close to their family, so they can watch each other and protect each other. And then, notice, every one of them with their swords, this is in Hebrew, with their spears, in Hebrew, and with their bows, in Hebrew, you know, like bow and arrow.

So, every one of them was behind the wall, on the inside, with their families together, and also they have those ammunition to protect themselves in case the enemy will come to seek to destroy them. That is a great lesson in these things. You see, we also are called to be ready in case the enemy will seek to attack us. In fact, turn with me to Ephesians 6. You and I are not called to fight with carnal weapons. We are not to fight, for example, with a sword like Peter cut the ear of Malchus, the servant of the high priest, when the religious leaders came to take Yeshua at the time that he was in the Garden of Gethsemane.

We are not to fight with swords. We are not to fight with bow and arrow. We are not to fight in such a way, but we do have a warfare. And so, the apostle Paul said to the believers at the city of Ephesus, in verse 10 of Ephesians 6, he said, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might. Put on, here is the armor that you and I have today. put on the whole armor of God." Why, Paul? In order that he may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. See, the devil is very wily. He has a plan, he has an agenda to attack the redeemed people.

And so the redeemed people are to put upon them the whole armor in order to protect ourselves from the harm which Satan intend to place upon his people. And then he said, he continued in verse 12, "For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but we wrestle against principalities and powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." See, you and I also have a battle. And we need to defend ourselves from the enemy who is trying to attack us with his wild plans against the people of God. We are not wrestling against flesh and blood like we have here those men such as Sanbalat, Tuvaya, the Arabians, the Ammonites, the Ashdodites and so on.

They are aggressive against principalities, against powers, against rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness. See, it's a spiritual battle. And we need, as we have been exhorted, to put upon ourselves the whole armor of God. And this armor is involved so much. It says in verse 13, "Wherefore take unto you the whole armor of God." And he gives us a list. Here, he began to tell us that we are to put upon ourselves, as it says here, "Stand therefore," verse 14, "having your glory and good about with truth." We need to learn the truth of the Word of God. We also need to be truthful in our conduct.

He continued, and he's speaking about the breastplate of righteousness. We are to seek to live a life that is just. And then he said, "Your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace." The shoes that we put on our feet is the truth of the gospel, which we can share with the world around us. And then above all, the shield of faith. Faith, believing in God and God's Word that He's able to sustain us, and so on. And He continues on. He's talking about the helmet of salvation. And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. Now you can see when they were holding these spears, and they were ready to protect themselves against their enemies.

For you and I as believers in Yeshua, the Messiah, it's not that we are going to take a sword in our hand and harm somebody. We are to take the Word of God and apply it in a proper way as we minister to others, as we've been attacked by those who oppose us. And therefore, in those things that we have before us, those three things, the swords, the spears, and the bows, all those things really speak to us about the Word of God. To handle the Word of God. To know how to answer through the Word of God. To know how to live in subjection to the Word of God.

That's the only way that we will be able to be protected as we continue on to follow Yeshua, the Messiah. In a time when we don't submit to the Word of God, we know very well how we end up to fall on our faces and dishonor the Lord. But you know, go back to our chapter, Nehemiah chapter 4. The second thing that he tells them is also very interesting. Notice verse 14 now. There he says, "And I looked, and I rose up, and I said unto the nobles, unto the rulers, and unto the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them. Remember the Lord." In Hebrew it says, "Zichru et Adonai." "Remember the Lord which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, for your sons, for your daughters, for your wives, and for your houses." Okay?

You are taking the swords, the spears, and the bows, but you don't just take this in order to just attack and trust yourself. But you have to remember the Lord, the God of Israel. To remember what he has done for you in the past. And what he is able to do for you in the present. Remember the one who loved you. The one who called you to be a nation. God is saying through Nehemiah to the Jewish people who were building the walls in the city of Jerusalem. Don't forget God. You cannot go without God and fight on your own. You need the Lord in your life." Nehemiah is saying to the Jewish people.

And how important to remember who God is. To remember what he has done for us. To remember how he saved us from slavery. To remember that he brought us into a relationship with him. To remember the price that our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, had paid when he died for us on the tree. That's the only way that we're going to be able to gain a victory against those who are opposing us. And fight on behalf of your brethren, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your houses. In fact, what he is really telling them is exactly what the Apostle Shaul Paul said to the brethren when he gave them the sixth chapter of Ephesians.

He said, "Be strong in the Lord," Ephesians 6 and verse 10. And in the power of his might. Not your own might, but in the power of his might. We need to remember our blessed Lord and what he has done for us. In fact, I would like you for a second to turn to 2 Timothy, chapter 2. And here is an encouragement that Shaul Paul gave to another younger brother by the name of Timothy. He said to him in 2 Timothy, and in chapter 2, in verse 8. Timothy, "Remember Yeshua HaMashiach, Yeshua the Messiah, of the seed of David, who was raised from the dead according to my Gospel." You see, Timothy needed this encouragement as well as he was raised from among the dead according to my Gospel.

You see, Timothy needed this encouragement as well because he was experiencing opposition. And Timothy needed to remember what the Lord had done for him. And don't you feel this when we have problems and issues arise in our lives? What encourages us the most is when we look unto Yeshua. And when we see what he has done for us. We see that his love for us has been so great. And his care for us is so supreme. Remember what he has done for us when he died for us on the tree. He paid for every sin that we have committed. He paid a penalty which we could have never paid.

And you remember when he cried on the tree and he says, "Elohi, Elohi, lama az-zavtani, my God, my God, why have thou forsaken me?" He was forsaken on our behalf. He was judged that you and I will never need to be judged. And so when we experience opposition at times and we have discouragement, we can also remember what the Lord has done for us. You know, in Israel, when somebody passed away and he or she dies, there is a memorial service and it's oftentimes called "deizkor", the remembrance. That Israel is called to remember God. To remember what the God of our fathers have done for the nation of Israel.

Never to forget what the Lord have done for Israel, the nation. And never to forget what the Lord have done for all those that have trusted in Yeshua, the Messiah. Never to forget. His love for us is so supreme. The work that he has done for us will benefit you and I for time and eternity. And even when we go through trials, we can stay close to him and we can lean hard on him. And he promised to never leave you nor forsake you. You and I might forsake each other. You and I might disappoint each other. But the Lord says, I will never leave you nor forsake you.

I want to read another verse in the book of Romans in chapter 8, if you will turn with me for a moment. Romans chapter 8 verse 31. Paul encouraged the believers that he led to the Lord. And he is an encouragement to us. Romans chapter 8 and verse 31. What shall we say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us? He that spare not his own son, but deliver him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifies. Who is he that condemneth? It is the Messiah that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us.

Do you know, brothers and sisters, that right now, as we sit here at the meeting, Yeshua the Messiah is at the right hand of the Father, interceding for any one of us with any trial that you and I are experiencing in our life today, right this moment. You know, when we fail the Lord, he lifts up his holy hand and he says, Father, this is my child. I paid for the price of his failure and sin. The Lord is interceding on behalf of his own people. He doesn't condone our sin, but he's interceding for our weakness. And as a lawyer representing us before God and he says, I paid for the price of their failure and sins.

For these sins I was judged. Notice what it says in verse 35 of Romans chapter 8. Who shall separate us from the love of the Messiah? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long. Notice what it says in verse 37. All these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Verse 38 and 39 he concludes with this encouraging word. He says, I am persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor power, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in the Mashiach Yeshua, in Christ Jesus, the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.

So who can be against us? Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect? Who is he that condemn us? Who shall separate us from the love of the Messiah? Nothing. Because you and I belong to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah, not because of our good deeds and our good works, but because of the shed blood that Yeshua the Messiah shed for us. And so Nehemia encouraging the brethren in the land of Judah, Shaul Paul encourages you and I and the believers to whom he wrote to simply trust the Lord and not to forget. Zichru et Adonai. Remember the Lord. May the Lord help us to remember when things are difficult for us.

Let's not forget what Yeshua have done for us. Let us now verse 15. Let us now verse 15. Israel's enemies' plan became known to Nehemia and the people of Judah. It says there, notice in verse 15, It came to pass that when our enemies heard that it was known unto us and God had brought their counsel to naught, that we return all of us to the wall, everyone unto his work. Now you notice Nehemia did not say that somebody told me about the plan of the enemy. No, you notice he gave the credit to God. He says God had brought their counsel to naught. See, God is the one who is sovereign.

He is the one who is in charge of what's going on. He is the one who revealed to Nehemia and the people of Israel the plan that these Samaritans, Sanballat, Tuvaya, the Arabians, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites planned to do against the Jewish people who were building the walls of the city of Jerusalem. Now let's move along here towards the end of the chapter. Notice verse 16, 17, and 18. Israel continued defense and building the wall. Now that they've heard about the plan of the enemies, now that they've got encouragement from Nehemia, they continue to work. And I'm encouraging us all, brothers and sisters, we too, don't let the enemy discourage you from following Yeshua.

Don't let the enemy discourage you from serving the Lord. Don't say, well, what's the use? Everything is falling apart. What am I going to do? I'm speaking for all of us. Let us not allow the enemy to discourage us to such an extent that we stop serving the Lord. Let us continue forward. And you see, that's what these Jewish people set up an example for us in the next verses, verses 16 to 18. So we read in verse 16, and it came to pass. From that time forth that half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shield, and the bows, and the armor, and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.

You notice, by the way, that Nehemia used his servants to continue as an example. You notice, half of them wrought in the work, and the other half held the spear, the shield, and the bows. One half did the work. The other half was holding the ammunition, ready to protect them if the enemies will come. You know, it's interesting because you have here the trowel, the hole in one hand, working the ground, and in the other hand you have the sword. About 40 years before Israel became a nation, there was hardly any kibbutzes in the land of Israel. The Jewish people always had the Arabic nation constantly attack them.

So when they began to build the kibbutz, those of you who know the kibbutzes in Israel, the little communities, they had to protect themselves because the enemies constantly came to the nations around Israel to attack them, to destroy them. So in order to do so, they lived in communes, that we call today a kibbutz. The families brought all the children together. In fact, the children were sleeping not even at home at night. They were sleeping in a special children's home. And they were protected there and cared for by some of the nurses and so on. And the men and the women that were free to do the work, they were working outside and working the ground.

But when they were working, it's interesting, they were having a gun on their shoulder and they were hoeing the ground. And the tool in their hand, they were always ready because the enemy might come. So they just protect themselves from the enemy. That's how the kibbutz and the nation of Israel was established. Because there were a minority of Jewish people who were in the land before 1948, late 1800s, the early 1900s. That's how they protected themselves. My grandfather that immigrated from Yemen in the early 1900s was there in the land of Israel. In those days, the state of Israel was not even in existence. My father, who was born in 1920, my father and my mother, they were in Israel when there was no state of Israel.

And many of the people of Israel were constantly attacked by the enemies. By the way, just like today. The problem that existed, somebody go over the fence and kill one of the Jewish people, a little girl, a little boy and so on. Shooting them from the side of the road as they drive to their home. Constant friction. They are working the ground, but they have to have a gun on their shoulder. Well, here you see, half of the people took the ammunition, the other half worked the ground. This is an ongoing, continual issue in the land of Israel since the enemy is constantly attacking the Jewish people.

The only time when our people are going to have rest is when the Mashiach will come. And Israel will say, "Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord." And the Mashiach will establish the Messianic kingdom. And he will rule and reign over the Jewish people in a future day. But until then, there will be constant friction. Notice it says in verse 17, "Everyone who build carry a burden." It says here, "And they which build on the wall, and they which bear burdens with those that laded, everyone with one of his hand he wrought in the work, and with the other hand he held a weapon." We don't realize what a privilege to live in a country like the country we live in.

That we don't have to have a fear to hold a weapon from somebody who is going to come to attack us. But in the days of Israel, in the whole history of our nation, it always was so. In one hand, you are holding a hole. In another hand, you are holding a sword, or in the case of the modern days, a gun. Just to protect yourself from the enemy. And there is constant situation that exists there in the land of Israel. In the year 1910, there was only one kibbutz in Israel. And by the year 2000 and so, there were over 260 kibbutzes in the land of Israel.

But there were a community of people who worked together and protected themselves. But long before that, in the days of Nehemiah, that's how they built the wall of the city of Jerusalem. Notice verse 18 now. We also see that the shofar was introduced. The blowing of the trumpet. Here in verse 18, he says, For the builders, everyone had his sword girded by his side. And so build, and he that sounded the trumpet was beside me. You find out three things. Number one, the sword, the shovel, and the trumpet. Find these things going together. Because every one of these represents before us something that has to do with the word of God.

The sword represents before us the spirit, which we read earlier. And it is also, you remember, we read in Hebrews chapter 4 and verse 12 that the word of God is sharper than two-edged swords. To give us sound teachings, sound truths. That's what we need in our hands. We also need the shovel in order to build. That speaks to us of the word of God as a source of encouragement and edification. We teach the word of God. We edify. We encourage the believers. And then the trumpet, in Hebrew it is the shofar that was next to Nehemiah, the man who blew with the shofar. That speaks to us about sound alert.

To give us awakening. To awaken the people of God in case some enemy will come around. So all these three things that we have, the sword, the shovel, and the trumpet, will represent to us the value of the word of God. The word of God is good for encouragement. For refreshment. The word of God is good to teach us truths. The word of God is speak to our hearts to awaken us, to alert us from danger. And how many times we need to be alerted from danger. And so we read now in verses 19 to 21, Nehemiah gives instruction now to the Jewish people. He says, listen to verse 19.

He saw the great work and the separation between one another. They were too far apart. It says in verse 19, I said unto the noble, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people. The work is great and large, and we are separated upon the wall, one far from another. Nehemiah was observing. He said the work continued, but look, one family is here, another family is there, another family is there. There was too much separation. And they always are in danger to be attacked in one area at a time by the enemy. So in verse 20, Nehemiah gave a word of encouragement. He said, in what place therefore ye hear the sound of the trumpet, the sound of the shofar?

He says, resort ye thither. The moment that you hear the sound of the shofar, come to the place for which you heard the sound of the shofar, because danger is coming. And then at the end of this verse, he says, our God will fight for us. Eloheinu yilachem lanu. Our God, he's going to fight for his own people. He is going to defend his own people. When Israel came out of Egypt in Exodus chapter 14, and they were standing right before the Red Sea. In the back they are looking to see the Egyptians following them, ready now to come and to destroy them. On the right hand you have the mountain.

On the left hand you have the mountain. In front of them you have the Red Sea. The people of Israel began to cry to the Lord for help. And Moses said, stand still and see the salvation of the Lord. Our God will fight for us. And you know what God did? He opened the Red Sea. And he allowed the people of Israel to cross the Red Sea dry shod. And when the enemies of Israel who pursue them say, we will pursue, we will go after them. When they enter into the Red Sea, then the water of the Red Sea close upon them. It was a miracle of miracles.

And God is able to defend you and I when we submit to his will and when we trust him and allow him to work in our life. Now, brothers and sisters, let's conclude here. It says here in verse 21, Israel continue to labor. They continue on. He says, so we labored in a work. The half of them held the spears from the rising of the morning until the stars at night. They held the spears. Some were working. They were exchanging. Some took back again the spears. The other one was working. They were working together. They were building together in spite of opposition. And finally, listen to these dear brothers and sisters.

In verses 22 and 23, Nehemiah gives additional instruction for protection. And he says in verse 22. Likewise, at the same time said I unto the people, let everyone with his servant lodge within Jerusalem. Don't sleep at night outside. Don't sleep at night outside. Stay inside the city of Jerusalem. That in the night they may be a guard to us and labor on the day. So work in the daytime, half with the spears, half with the hose, you might say. And then at nighttime, come inside the walls and stay inside the walls to be protected. And he closed here in verse 23 by those words. So neither I, nor my brethren, nor my servants, nor the men of the guard which followed me, none of us put off our clothes.

Saving that everyone put them off for washing. In other words, they slept at night with their clothes on. They were laboring because they were determined to finish the building of the walls of the city of Jerusalem. And when they needed to take the clothes off, it's only for washing. When they took a bath or washed themselves and washed the clothes, they took them off only for that time. Then wore it back and remained as they were building alert and ready in case the enemy will come to seek to destroy them. So I'm going to close with these two words that we have here to highlight them.

First of all, verse 14, remember the Lord. And then secondly, verse 20, our God shall fight for us. Those two things you and I need to remember as we follow our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. We are never to forget what the Lord have done for us. And as he promised, I will never leave you nor forsake you. Yeshua will fight for us. May the Lord bless us.