“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction”
Thus stated Newton, as the Third Law of Motion.
While this is true in the realm of Physics, things are a little different in the real world. For every Putin there was a Navalny, for every Ronaldo there is a Messi, for every Biden there is a Trump …… ad infinitum. Yes, there is opposition in every field, but it is not always equal. Were it so, there won’t be any victors, howsoever obnoxious; everything will be in an uneasy equilibrium.
When Nehemiah embarked on a rebuilding project in Jerusalem, a good planner that he was, he did foresee opposition. So, he requested king Artaxerxes for letters of recommendation to governors on the way. Not only did the king provide those letters. but he also sent captains of the army and horsemen to accompany Nehemiah.
Upon arrival in Jerusalem, Nehemiah undertakes a secret mission, which he thus describes in Chapter 2:
“And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well, and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.
16 And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.
17 Then said I unto them, Ye see the distress that we are in, how Jerusalem lieth waste, and the gates thereof are burned with fire: come, and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we be no more a reproach.
18 Then I told them of the hand of my God which was good upon me; as also the king’s words that he had spoken unto me. And they said, let us rise up and build. So, they strengthened their hands for this good work.
Now here is the first sign of active opposition.
19 But when Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the servant, the Ammonite, and Geshem the Arabian, heard it, they laughed us to scorn, and despised us, and said, what is this thing that ye do? will ye rebel against the king?
But Nehemiah went ahead and built the wall in an impressive demonstration of division of labour.
Now the opposition snowballs.
Ch.4:1 But it came to pass, that when Sanballat heard that we builded the wall, he was wroth, and took great indignation, and mocked the Jews.
2 And he spake before his brethren and the army of Samaria, and said, what do these feeble Jews? will they fortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in a day? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of the rubbish which are burned?
3 Now Tobiah the Ammonite was by him, and he said, even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall.
Ah… sarcasm! A familiar tool faced by Kingdom people.
Nehemiah turns to God.
4 Hear, O our God; for we are despised: and turn their reproach upon their own head, and give them for a prey in the land of captivity:
Next move by the naysayers: the opposition making inroads into Nehemiah’s camp. Sanballat himself was son-in-law to somebody among the remnants, his son had married into the remnants, Eliashib the priest having oversight of the chamber of the house of our God was allied unto Tobiah and one of the sons of Joiada, the son of Eliashib the high priest, was son in law to Sanballat. A complex web!
Opposition from within!
As though this wasn’t enough Tobiah and Sanballat had hired Shemaiah; he tries to trap Nehemiah in a treacherous scheme calculated to abandon his endeavour.
Nehemiah responded Ch.6:
11 And I said, should such a man as I flee? and who is there, that, being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in.
As an NRI (Non-Resident Israeli), Nehamiah mourned, fasted, prayed, committed, planned, prepared and conquered – for the restoration of God’s kingdom.
What’s YOUR move?