Preparing for Battle

When Nehemiah found that the walls of Jerusalem had been destroyed, he was heartbroken. He fasted and prayed for the Lord's guidance and reminded the Lord of His promise to Moses:

...If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to Me and keep My commandments and do them, though some of you were cast out to the farthest part of the heavens, yet I will gather them from there, and bring them to the place which I have chosen as a dwelling for My name.  Nehemiah 1:8-9

Nehemiah models for us that we should:
1. Fast and pray for the Lord's guidance
2. Remind the Lord of His promises to us
3. Know that the moment we return to the Lord AND keep His commandments, the Lord welcomes us

After Nehemiah was given King Artaxerxes' stamp of approval to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem (note, that before Nehemiah made his request to the king, he prayed to God v. 2:4) he set straight away to Jerusalem.  Nehemiah traveled with captains of the army and horsemen that the king sent with him, which tells me that the Lord granted Nehemiah favor in the king's sight - v. 2:9. But there were men who were NOT happy about the walls of Jerusalem being rebuilt, and this is what stands out to me the most:

Now it happened, when Sanballat, Tobiah, the Arabs, the Ammonites, and the Ashdodites heard that the walls of Jerusalem were being restored and the gaps were beginning to be closed, that they became very angry, and all of them conspired together to come and attack Jerusalem and create confusion. Nevertheless we made our prayer to our God, and because of them we set a watch against them day and night. -Nehemiah 4:7-9

The moment that the people began filling the gaps and restoring the walls, their enemies became very angry. This spoke volumes to me in a spiritual sense that the moment we begin to build our spiritual walls up that separate us from the world, the enemy becomes very angry. He attacks us and creates confusion - causes us to question what we know and tells us lies. I find this so very true every time I find myself growing closer to God - more confusion, more lies. But I am comforted by Nehemiah's model to fast, to pray, to remind the Lord of His promises to us, and to keep His commandments.  These commandments are such an integral part of a relationship with God - tangent, refocus...

So in order to maintain the construction of the wall and not allow fear of the enemy to stop or hinder their work, people were assigned jobs:

And it happened, when our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had brought their plot to nothing, that all of us returned to the wall, everyone to his work. So it was, from that time on, that half of my servants worked at construction, while the other half held the spears, the shields, the bows, and wore armor; and the leaders were behind all the house of Judah. Those who built on the wall, and those who carried burdens, loaded themselves so that with one hand they worked at construction, and with the other held a weapon. Every one of the builders had his sword girded at his side as he built. And the one who sounded the trumpet was beside me. -Nehemiah 4:15-17

To me, this is our defense: our personal place with the Lord and our jobs as a church body to work and restore the spiritual walls of ourselves and our brethren. The only way in which we will take ground is to fill in the gaps of our walls that allow any worldly weakness in. Each person had a job, whether it was to physically build the walls (teachers, preachers, etc.) yet still be prepared to fight, or to stand guard and protect against the enemy that may try to deter building efforts (warriors, intercessors, etc.).  The leaders were on the inside "behind all the house of Judah" which tells me they are being protected by the other workers.

The Lord has revealed this to me as highly significant for this time in my life. So may we all find our job, be prepared to fight no matter what, but work together to fill in the gaps of our spiritual walls that set us apart from the world.

Now the rest of the people—the priests, the Levites, the gatekeepers, the singers, the Nethinim, and all those who had separated themselves from the peoples of the lands to the Law of God, their wives, their sons, and their daughters, everyone who had knowledge and understanding— these joined with their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse and an oath to walk in God's Law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the LORD our Lord, and His ordinances and His statutes -Nehemiah 10:28-29