Read Nehemiah 4:7-8

As with any great work from God, Satan will not be easily defeated and will continue to oppose the work in any way possible. When the mocking and ridicule from Sanballat and Tobiah doesn’t seem to have the desired effect, these foreign opponents of the rebuilding of walls and gates of Jerusalem decide to take a more direct route.

But when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites and the people of Ashdod heard that the repairs to Jerusalem’s walls had gone ahead and that the gaps were being closed, they were very angry. They all plotted together to come and fight against Jerusalem and stir up trouble against it. Nehemiah 4:7-8 NIV

This same tactic of repeated attacks can be seen in the tempting of Jesus in the wilderness…

Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, He was hungry. The tempter came to Him… Matthew 4:1-3 NIV

Satan waited until Jesus was weak from fasting and then brought three separate attacks to tempt Him to give up on the work He came to earth to carry out…the redemption of mankind.

As the work progresses on the walls because of the focus of the workers and the prayers of Nehemiah, Satan comes with a second more concerning scheme to stop the work. When words don’t actually deter the workers, “sticks and stones” are the next course of action as these enemies of Judah make plans to actually attack the city and forcibly stop the work.

We have already learned that we should expect spiritual opposition to any great work of God. Now we learn that we should expect continued opposition to God’s work as one strategy proves unfruitful. Not only should we expect continued opposition, but we should expect increased opposition to any great work of God. Satan isn’t going to back down easily which makes our need to depend on God’s power and protection even greater.

Questions to consider…

How do you think the Jewish workers responded to the news of an impending attack?
How would you respond?