When have the people of God not suffered? When has the truth about their intentions not been twisted? I pray that every Christian would live with the kind of courage expressed by the post-exilic people of God:
Nehemiah 6
Now when it was reported to Sanballat and Tobiah and to Geshem the Arab and to the rest of our enemies that I had built the wall and that there was no gap left in it (though up to that time I had not set up the doors in the gates), Sanballat and Geshem sent to me, saying, "Come and let us meet together in one of the villages in the plain of Ono [Oh No – God has a since of humor]." But they intended to do me harm. So I sent messengers to them, saying, "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down. Why should the work stop while I leave it to come down to you?" They sent to me four times in this way, and I answered them in the same manner. In the same way Sanballat for the fifth time sent his servant to me with an open letter in his hand. In it was written, "It is reported among the nations-and Geshem also says it-that you and the Jews intend to rebel; that is why you are building the wall; and according to this report you wish to become their king. You have also set up prophets to proclaim in Jerusalem concerning you, "There is a king in Judah!' And now it will be reported to the king according to these words. So come, therefore, and let us confer together." Then I sent to him, saying, "No such things as you say have been done; you are inventing them out of your own mind" -for they all wanted to frighten us, thinking, "Their hands will drop from the work, and it will not be done." But now, O God, strengthen my hands!
Notice the methods of the enemy are to attempt to dishearten through public exposure. Through false witnesses our Lord was also betrayed into the hands of sinners - it will not be any different with his disciples. Praise God when he counts you worthy to suffer with him. When you do suffer pray the Psalms - Psalms 74 may have been on Nehemiah’s mind.
Now the above story has a context. The people of God in this story were coming out of a period discipline. God had been disciplining them for their sins, but they had repented and so Sanballat and Tobiah were out of season with their attack – repentance had occurred – God knew it and Nehemiah knew it.
God Bless and be courageous
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7 comments:
Very good! What does post-exilic mean anyway?
I love you
Julie
Great Blog!! I felt like I was in the army/battlefield and just got an encouraging letter. We all need to be lifting each other up, helping each other to understand that things arent new to believers. Like you said, "When have the people of God not suffered? When has the truth about their intentions not been twisted?" There truely is nothing new under the sun. Thank you for the encouragement today.
-Sarah
Very encouraging. I'm with Julie, what does post-exilic mean?
Post-exilic = after the exile
smart-alecks!
lol, i use wikipedia when i read Robs blogs. Although the definition of post-exilic is just as confusing as the word itself. I got the jist. = time period.
-sarah
as with everyone else, this was an uplifting blog! I had never really thought of the enemy using "public embarrassment" to discourage you, but that makes sense. Thanks for the insight!
Rob, this is great. The out of season part is so relevant. Thanks for the post.
Matthew
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