Opposition
In
Our LINE Of Duty?
A
Man's Heart Can Change In An Instant
When The Heart
Is Given A Second Chance To Live.
This Chance
Must Be Given To The Heart Of Every Man.
But Sometimes,
A Heart Is Way Long Dead Before The Man Dies.
Taken From
The Providence Of Prayer
by edmund desoto
What
a lesson for us to learn for our ministries; what a tremendous monument
to the love of God and faithfulness in our lives to see Nehemiah standing
firm despite all the opposition he faced in the line of duty. * * *
Pray
For The Peace Of Jerusalem
Psalm
122:6 KJV
I used to keep saying
to myself over and over again...
“I
cant believe our government officials."
"If I were
there I would . . . !”
“Our schools
are really in bad shape."
"Someone ought
to do something!”
Yes, it is easy
to analyze, scrutinize, and talk about all the problems in the world, but
what we really need are people who will not just discuss a situation but
who will do something about it! This applies for those in government, churches,
in the home and this applies to you and me.
It is not enough
to have gripers, complainers, self proclaimed prophets, and “armchair quarterbacks,”
they abound a dime a dozen. What matters is to be proactive in areas where
it will affect our families, our businesses and our ministries.
Just today
a very dear close friend and member of the Shout Of Victory Ministry team
shared with me that the LORD had directed her to Nehemiah chapter 4. Naturally
as her Pastor and friend, I wanted to see what the LORD was showing and
revealing to her through His Word.
As I begun
to read the Book of Nehemiah again, this is what I received and was revealed
by the LORD.
For
starters, there were three men mentioned in the Old Testament by the same
name of Nehemiah and all of them were living in the postexilic period (relating
to the period of Jewish history between the end of the exile in Babylon
in 538 b.c. and a.d. 1)
However, the
Nehemiah that I am refering to in this article was the leader mentioned
in a list of Jewish exiles who returned from Babylon with Zerubbabel sometime
after 538 BC.
Ezra
2:2;
Nehemiah 7:7
KJV
The name Nehemiah
means, “the Lord comforts” and the meaning of his name was appropriate
for his time of hope and fulfillment of the rebuilding of the Jerusalem
wall.
So even when
we are faced with opposition, the LORD always comforts His people when
we seek His Presence. It is under prayer that we enter the Presence of
God.
Nehemiah saw
a problem in Jerusalem and was very distressed just like many of us are
distressed in modern days today with the problems in our society and our
governments.
It was Daniel
the prophet, when reading the writings of Jeremiah during the Babylonian
captivity, that realized that the 70 years of captivity in exile were up.
When Daniel begun to pray that God would fulfill His promise, the Prince
of Persia and Grecian opposed God.
It was Gabriel,
the angel, that came to speak to Daniel regarding this promise, but even
Gabriel was opposed by satanic beings.
Gabriel
is one of the two angels mentioned by name in the Bible (the other is Michael).
Gabriel appeared in human form to Daniel so that he might be able to receive
the message, in order to reveal to him the meaning of a vision, to show
what would transpire on the Day of Judgment, and to give Daniel wisdom
and understanding.
Daniel
8:16;9:21-22 KJV
In
the New Testament Gabriel appeared to Zechariah as well, the priest as
he served in the temple, to announce the birth of Zechariah's son, John
the Baptist.
Luke
1:11-20 KJV
Six months
later Gabriel appeared to Mary to announce that she would become the mother
of Jesus, the long awaited Messiah.
Luke
1:26-33 KJV
Gabriel
is commonly called an archangel but is not referred to that way in the
Bible. I have found an abundance of material about Gabriel in the non
canonical
writings (not included in the Christian Bible)
of the Jews.
In the books
of Enoch Gabriel is pictured as one of the four chief angels, along with
Michael, Raphael, and Uriel.
1
Enoch 40:3
He is one of
the holy angels (1 Enoch 20:7)
who looks down from heaven and is an intercessor.
Enoch
9:1; 40:6; 21:3
He
is to destroy the wicked (1 Enoch 9:9-10)
and cast them into the furnace (1 Enoch 54:6)
and is set over all powers.
1
Enoch 40:9
Michael sits
at God's right hand, and Gabriel sits on the left.
2
Enoch 24:1
Enoch was the
son of Cain and grandson of Adam.
Genesis
4:17,
Genesis 19
KJV
Enoch
was also a descendant of Seth, the son Adam and Eve, and a son of Jared.
Enoch is the father of Methuselah, you will find this information in Genesis
5:18-24; 1 Chronicles 1:3.
He lived in
such close relationship to God that he was taken to heaven without having
died: “Enoch walked with God; then he was no more, for God took him away”
Genesis
5:24 KJV
In
Daniel
12: 1, Michael, as guardian angel of Israel
and a high priest of heaven, is more occupied with affairs in heaven, but
Gabriel is God's messenger who goes from heaven to execute God's will on
earth.
Therefore Gabriel
was the one sent to explain the vision to Daniel, when opposed, Michael
came to his rescue.
Going back to
Nehemiah, instead of complaining or wallowing in self pity and grief, Nehemiah
took action and got the job accomplished.
Many of us
however are not doing that today. Instead, many are complaining, whining
and wallowing, the result? The job does not get done and territorial spirits
take over our inheritance.
Nehemiah
knew that the Lord God wanted him to motivate His people to rebuild Jerusalem's
walls, so he left a responsible position in the Persian government to do
what God wanted. This is what might be required of some of us in our lifetime
and the question is the following.
Are you willing
to leave everything behind and do what the LORD GOD is calling you to do?
I know that I did and have answered His calling.
Jerusalem
first became a key city when David, who was then king over the southern
portion of Israel, consolidated his power and became king over all of Israel.
Nehemiah knew
God could use his talents used by him in the secular world to get the job
done for Him and His kingdom. From the moment he arrived in Jerusalem,
everyone knew who was in charge. Why?
Because
the anointing was on him, the calling of God was in full operation in the
life of Nehemiah. The fruits of his life was the calling of God on him.
He organized,
managed, supervised, encouraged, met opposition, confronted injustice,
and kept going until the wall was built. Nehemiah was a man of action and
he got the job done. He wore his pants well, as I always say. He was a
determined man. His yes meant yes, and his no meant no.
As I continued
to read the book that bares his name, I noticed that the story really begun
when Nehemiah was talking with fellow Jews who reported that the walls
and gates of Jerusalem were in disrepair and in bad need of attention.
WHEN
CHANGE DOES NOT COME
FROM
THE DENOMINATIONS
REVOLUTION
RISES FROM THE BOTTOM
So obviously,
this was disturbing news to him, and rebuilding those walls became Nehemiah's
number one burden. At the appropriate time, Nehemiah asked King Artaxerxes
for permission to go to Jerusalem to rebuild its fallen walls and the king
approved.
For
your information, there were three kings of the Persian Empire that were
named Artaxerxes. The one I am referring to now is Artaxerxes I (465–424
BC), known as Macrocheir or Longimanus. He was the son and successor of
Xerxes I (486–465 BC).
Artaxerxes I
was notable for his kindness toward the Jews in Persia, that is why he
allowed Nehemiah to go and rebuild the wall. Once matters of procedure
had been established clearly; his support for the work of Ezra and Nehemiah
is evident and very clear from their writings.
So the story continues
and in chapter 3 of his book, Nehemiah armed himself with royal letters,
traveled to Jerusalem and organized the people into groups and assigned
them to specific sections of the wall.
Like anything
that we do for the LORD, the construction project was not without opposition,
and Nehemiah was not spared from this blessing. He knew however that victory
was his without a doubt.
Among some
of the ones that opposed Nehemiah was Sanballat, Tobiah, and others. They
tried to halt the work with insults, ridicule, threats, and sabotage. They
even attacked his character.
Does this sound
in any way familiar?
Sanballat
was the leading political official of Samaria residing at Beth-horon in
Ephraim. In a letter from Elephantine of Egypt, Sanballat was named as
the governor of Samaria in 407 BC. So Sanballat, along with Tobiah who
was an Ammonite and not a Jew and Geshem who was an Arab and not a Jew,
were adversaries of Nehemiah. Again, does this sound familiar?
They tried to
prevent Nehemiah from rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem during the postexilic
period.
Please
read this information in the following chapters.
Nehemiah
2:10, 19;
Nehemiah 4:1,
7;
Nehemiah 6:1-14;
and
Nehemiah 13:28
I read from the
King James version of the Bible.
This opposition
from Sanballat, Tobiah, and others of course, made some of Nehemiah's workers
fearful; others became very weary and ran away in order to protect themselves
and their families. They thought twice now about helping Nehemiah build
Jerusalem's walls. But Nehemiah never ever gave up. We see that in chapter
four of his book.
Every time
he encountered insults, ridicule, threats, and sabotage, Nehemiah employed
a strategy to frustrate his enemies. That strategy is called prayer, encouragement,
guard duty, consolidation.
There is something
to be learned here from Nehemiah. Life and death are in the power of the
tongue and instead of us coming into agreement with the enemy and joining
him, the lesson here is to pray, to encourage others, to confront the threats
and destroy the sabotage. This is the only way to give a Shout Of Victory
in your life and in your calling.
Now in chapter
five of his book a different problem arose. This was not an external problem
dealing with Samaritans, Ammonites and Arabs, this was an internal one.
He was dealing with his own people, the Jews.
The rich Jews
at that time were profiteering off the plight of their working countrymen.
Hearing of their oppression and greed, Nehemiah confronted the extortioners
face to face, like everything needs to be confronted, and was very successful.
In all this
time, Nehemiah never stopped praying and worshiping God. This was his weapon
of warfare. Then, with the walls almost completed, again, Sanballat, Tobiah,
and all their company tried one last time to stop Nehemiah.
Sanballat and
Tobiah had become very desperate, pretty much the same way as those who
are opposing you and the calling of God in your life have become. The wall
was almost completed, and their efforts to stop Nehemiah from constructing
it were failing.
So
as the enemy always does, they tried a new approach, centering their attacks
on Nehemiah's character.
I have experienced
the same situation over and over again as well. The enemy tries to stop
me in one way then another, he never gives up. When all else fails, then
he attacks me personally. The enemy uses vessels that are not matured in
the Lord by using their rumors and vicious gossip, deceit, and false reports.
Nehemiah
6:6, Nehemiah 6: 10-13, Nehemiah 6:17 KJV
When people that
I have personally ministered to attack me, I would be a liar if I say that
it doesn't hurt. However when the criticism is unjustified, it is easier
to despair. When I am doing God's work, I receive attacks on my character
from people from all walks of life, even from people that have served in
this ministry.
Some
of the attacks come from people that have even been physically healed through
this ministry. Some of the attacks even come from family members that claim
to be believers. Some from first cousins that wear a religious spirit outfit
very well in their lives.
Yes, every Tuesday
and every Sunday you will find them in Church. Some recite the rosary three
to four times daily, go to church morning and evening daily to receive
communion and sit at the feet of a statue and pray that I may stop reading
the bible for fear I may become a Christian.
Such is the
disturbing reality in my life when I see loved ones opposing the work of
God in my life. These are family members, cousins and aunts trapped in
a vicious cycle of religion, never growing, stagnated in the same place
and not producing fruit. The fruits in their lives are nothing more than
the fruits of the flesh which have led then to become idol worshipers.
I remember now
why Nehemiah has been one of my favorite books all along my walk with the
LORD and why the LORD is using it now again to help me see His plan for
my life and the future of this Ministry. I also see how the LORD is using
it in the life of one of my team members and dear friend.
Nehemiah's
example has encouraged me and countless others by leading believers to
a place where they can trust the LORD God to accomplish the task and High
Calling of God in our lives. He does that by helping His servants overlook
unjustified insults, rumors, gossip and lies, by answering all our prayers
and having His divine hand upon us ALWAYS.
Interestingly
in chapter six we see Nehemiah standing firm, and in just 52 days, the
wall was finished.
*
* * What a lesson for us to learn for our ministries; what a tremendous
monument to the love of God and faithfulness in our lives to see Nehemiah
standing firm despite all the opposition he faced in the line of duty.
From reading the
book of Nehemiah, I can clearly see that just like our enemies know now
that God is with us, his enemies and friends alike knew that God was with
him and had helped him along the way. However, regardless of their knowing,
they tried to stop him. This is repeated over and over again in our lives
with people that oppose us.
After all,
although these enemies had seen the hand of the LORD upon His people for
centuries and not once had the LORD GOD abandoned his people, they tried
to stop God's work through Nehemiah.
As I continued
to read the book of Nehemiah, I took noticed that even after the wall was
finished, he never stopped working. He continued to organize the people
of Israel, yes, he never stopped. In chapter seven, he took a registration
and appointed gatekeepers, Levites, and other officials.
Along with
Nehemiah, Ezra also led the city in worship and instruction of the law
in chapters ten and eleven. Both were following instructions from Joshua
to remember the promises of the law. This leads to a reaffirmation of faith
and revives the people of God as they promised to serve Him faithfully.
As I finished
the twelfth and thirteen chapters of Nehemiah, I enjoyed how he closed
his book by listing of the clans of Israel and their leaders. I enjoyed
the dedication of the new wall of Jerusalem, and especially the purging
of sin from the land. Very important.
So now, I am
encouraging you to read this book. As you read it, watch Nehemiah in action
under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Be determined to finish the assignment
that the LORD GOD has placed in your spirit. He will never leave you nor
forsake you.
The lesson
I learned and was reminded of by reading this book again, is that we need
to be dependable, determined and most important of all, we need to live
a life that is yielded to the Spirit of the LORD.
In order for
us to be used of Him, we, as yielded vessels need to understand that His
promises will stand true forever. The LORD will never abandon us regardless
of the situation we find ourselves in.
Once He gives
us an assignment to complete while we are still on the earth, our guarantee
is that He will always be with us.
We need to
be a people on whom God can depend on. We need to be a people that act
on His behalf and is for Him. We need to be for Him and His agenda in a
world that at times seems to be completely against Him, His Kingdom, His
agenda and ultimately, us.
Nehemiah left
us a good example of what a proactive servant of God does when God's agenda
have been neglected.
Instead of
complaining or wallowing in self pity and grief, we need to take action
and get the job accomplished. We need to do that today. Instead, of complaining,
whining and wallowing, we need to get the work done and preach the Gospel
of the LORD Yeshua Ha-Messiach.
God's
calling on our lives helps us rebuild our trust and faith in Him that lives
for ever and ever. Our responsibility is to protect our calling, our anointing
and our inheritance. We do that by remaining in the perfect will of God.
So when we
see neglected areas of our lives that need repairing, restoration and rebuilding,
our call of duty to advance the Kingdom of God takes precedence over anything
else in our custodian lives.
Like Nehemiah,
who left a responsible position in the Persian government to do what God
wanted, we in turn need to examine our hearts to see if God's plan is coming
first in our lives.
Again, this is
what might be required of some of us in our lifetime. So I present the
same question that was presented to you earlier, for it still stands.
Are
you willing to leave everything behind to do what the LORD GOD has called
you to do?
I know that
I did and have answered His calling.
How about you?
In My Own Words,
EDMUND DESOTO
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07/04/2010
7:42 AM
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