Nehemiah 4:1 - Meaning and Application

Here is the spiteful, mocking reaction that Sanballat and Tobiah, the leaders opposing the Jews, gave to the Jews’ plan to rebuild Jerusalem’s wall. News spread quickly through the country and reached Samaria, a center of hostility to the Jews and their welfare. We are told how they responded in both heart and speech.

First, they were furious about the work. Nehemiah had come to seek the good of Israel (Nehemiah 2:10), and that already annoyed them. But when they heard of this larger effort for the people’s good, they could hardly bear it. They had been hoping that, while Jerusalem stayed without walls, they could take it whenever they wanted. If the city was protected by a wall, it would not only be harder to attack, but in time it could become a real threat to them. The strength and safety of God’s people always troubles their enemies.

They also mocked the work. Their contempt showed clearly how much malice was in them. Yet even their scorn helped the work, because they treated it as a foolish plan that would collapse on its own. That delay kept them from stopping it soon enough. Sanballat mocked the workers themselves, calling them “these feeble Jews” (Nehemiah 4:2). He sneered at their materials and their speed, as if they expected to finish a city wall in a day and celebrate the next. Tobiah joined in with equal scorn against the work itself (Nehemiah 4:3). He said that even a fox, just by stepping on it, could break their stone wall. Proud scoffers often join hands and encourage one another’s mockery.

When Nehemiah heard these insults, he turned to God in humility and prayer. He did not answer fools in the same foolish way. He did not trade insults with them, but lifted the matter to God. He asked God to notice the abuse: “Hear, our God, for we are despised” (Nehemiah 4:4). God’s people have often been treated with contempt, and God hears every insult aimed at them. That truth should help them endure quietly, almost as if they were deaf (Psalm 38:13, Psalm 38:15).

Nehemiah also asked God to deal with the enemies’ sin and turn their shame back on them (Nehemiah 4:4, 5). This reads more like a prophetic prayer than a pattern for us to copy. Jesus taught us to pray for those who mistreat us, and Jesus himself prayed, “Father, forgive them.” Still, Nehemiah’s words show that those who mock God’s people are storing up lasting shame for themselves. Such people are often so hardened that they never repent. Nehemiah’s concern was not mainly that they had hurt him, but that they had insulted God. That is the right way to think about persecution, since it helps us look for God to act against it (Psalm 74:18, Psalm 74:22).

Even with all this ridicule, the builders kept working hard. They made such good progress that, in a short time, the wall was built to half its height, because the people were eager to work (Nehemiah 4:6). Their hearts were in the task, and they wanted it to move ahead. Good work goes well when people are willing and ready to do it. And the mockery of enemies should push us to keep going, not turn us away from our duty.