Messianic Viewpoint

Guest (Female): Shalom and welcome to Shalom Ariel and to this our fifth message from the book of Nehemiah with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon. We have an important lesson from today's message and that is that secrecy often does not achieve what it's desiring to do and things that are done in secret often fail. Five enemies of Israel conspired together in a secret attack against those who were rebuilding the wall in Jerusalem. They were secretive, they were deceptive, and their motives aimed to harm.

You know that in plots like these, it just takes one person, one leak, and the plan collapses. And that's what happened with Sanballat and the others. And they are not alone in their failures when it comes to secrecy. Do you remember Absalom? He had a secret plan to destroy his father and those plans failed. Think about Joseph and his ten brothers. They secretly plotted to kill Joseph. They were so intimidated by him and in particular with his dream of supremacy, but their secret plan failed to prevent Joseph's rise to power.

This secret plan, by the way, ultimately saved them during a famine, which just showed us the incredible grace of God and proves that when it comes to secret plots, God is still on top of everything, even if we plan wrongly. God may very well move in and expose it, bringing light and godly consequences. Joseph said what we may plan for evil, God planned for good. So when we act in secrecy with male intent, we walk on very fragile ground.

But contrast that with Nehemiah and his followers. They were so open. They were there in broad daylight, using their shovels and spears, and warning others with trumpets, and they were praying openly to God. Their goals were not hidden. They were transparent in their worship and in their intention. And so while every act of secrecy is not sinful—we think about Esther and how she kept her Jewish identity secret for quite some time—we need to be cautious about our own motives when we are working in secret. Does it honor the will of God?

So while keeping certain secrets can be noble, when people share things with us and ask us not to share them, we do need to guard their reputation and hold it in utmost care. But if our secrets are done for the wrong reasons, they border on what the Bible calls evil. Keep us Lord from any wicked ways, in Yeshua's name. Be blessed as you listen in to today's message with Messianic leader Jacques Isaac Gabizon and shalom, shalom.

Jacques Isaac Gabizon: Now let's open our Bibles to Nehemiah chapter 4. You can also follow along with the passages on the screen. So timely and relevant to our days. Today we will examine the anatomy and evolution of evil, specifically in opposition to everything that belongs to God. Throughout scriptures and history, we see that whenever there is a movement toward what is good, what is righteous, or when a prophecy is about to be declared or fulfilled, the forces of darkness are stirred into action.

In the book of Daniel, we read about angelic battles in the heavenly realms. There in Daniel chapter 10, an angel was delayed by the prince of Persia, a demonic power, because a great prophecy concerning the downfall of evil was about to be revealed. In the book of Revelation, we see vast armies of demons released from beyond the Euphrates, again attempting to resist, even try to stop the arrival of the Messiah. And so it has been throughout history, and this is exactly what we see in the book of Nehemiah, where prophecies of Daniel and Jeremiah were being fulfilled and the people of Israel preparing Jerusalem for the first coming of the Messiah. Here the forces of evil rose to oppose the rebuilding of Jerusalem and of Israel.

But as with every story in the scriptures, the book of Nehemiah ends with victory for God. Evil may cause great harm. It may cause great suffering, but time and again it is overcome until it will completely vanish from God's creation. So this story is found in chapter 4 through chapter 10 of Nehemiah. Together they create a whirlwind of ups and downs where a relentless enemy opposes a resilient group of faithful servants.

The narrative throughout these chapters is not always easy to follow. The timeline shifts and some expressions are very hard to interpret. Yet perhaps the very structure is intentionally designed to draw our attention to a deeper underlying message, both prophetic and practical. For instance, this portion of Nehemiah closely mirrors the events described in the book of Acts where a faithful remnant of Israel, the believing Jews of the first century, began to build the body of the Messiah. The same forces of evil that rose against Nehemiah surfaced there, employing similar tactics to hinder the work of God.

And these same schemes continue to be used even against believers today. This is why Paul says in 2 Corinthians 2:11, that no advantage would be taken of us by Satan, for we are not ignorant of his schemes. All of this here in Nehemiah has been documented for our spiritual growth and discernment. And beyond the practical lessons, there's a prophetic dimension of great power in this book.

At the end of Nehemiah's account, when the walls of Jerusalem are finally finished, the people celebrated with two major feasts: the Feast of Trumpets and the Feast of Tabernacles. Yet surprisingly, the feast in between them, Yom Kippur, is not mentioned. Why not? This omission may not be accidental. It aligns perfectly with the prophetic picture of the end times.

As we know, the Feast of Trumpets points to the Rapture, the gathering of all believers, the first resurrection of believers, while the Feast of Tabernacles looks ahead to the Messianic Kingdom. Could it be that Yom Kippur is absent because it represents the Tribulation, the time of judgment from which the body of the Messiah will be spared since it would have been raptured? We will see these things in detail. Let us now turn to Nehemiah chapter 4 and explore how this remarkable book reveals both the spiritual battle and the prophetic hope awaiting God's people.

To begin with, there is one verse in this account that often goes unnoticed in our English Bibles, yet it stands out clearly in the Hebrew Bible as a distinct conclusion, a closing statement to a major section. In most of our English Bibles, this verse appears in Nehemiah chapter 4, verse 6, but in the Hebrew text, it represents the end of the previous chapter and serves as a conclusion and also as an introduction to the next section. This is what it says: "So we built the wall, and the entire wall was joined together up to half its height, for the people had a mind to work."

Here we arrive at a key turning point. The wall of Jerusalem had reached half its height. The phrase "in its height" indicates that Nehemiah's strategy was not to complete one section at a time but rather to raise the wall uniformly around the entire city. And the structure began to take visible form, reaching halfway up. The enemy suddenly realized that the work was advancing successfully.

And it was then that they launched a series of fierce attacks. As we read in verse 8, all of them conspired together to come and fight against Jerusalem and to cause confusion in it. They simply could not bear the thought that Jerusalem was once again in the hands of Jewish people, just like it is today. But now notice what the enemy did. There's one thing about evil: it is not original. It repeats the same methods over and over, which makes it easier for us to recognize it.

What is the first thing that they use as a deterrent? Discouragement and threats. First in verse 2, the wealthy Samaritans mocked the Jews, calling them feeble Jews, that is, weak and wretched. The Hebrew word "amelal" is found only here in the scriptures, but it is significant and reveals to us how antisemites actually view the Jews. This word comes from the root that is "amal," meaning to languish, to wither, to grow faint.

In their eyes, the Jews appear as a defeated and weary people, persecuted, impoverished, and incapable of rebuilding. But every part of that assessment is utterly false. In verse 2 as well, they mocked their way of working. They said that if a fox stands on this wall, the wall will crumble. So far today, the Jews have built a strong economy and military country, proving them wrong.

And by verse 11, they threatened to kill them all, saying that they will come among them, kill them, and put a stop to the work. Their threats worked, but only for a little while. It did discourage many in Israel, who concluded in verse 10 that they were unable to rebuild the wall. They said the strength of the burden-bearers is falling. Discouragement is one of the most powerful tools in Satan's arsenal.

Many today have abandoned—and I've seen it—the work of the Lord, not because they lack the calling, not because they lack the gifts, but because they got discouraged. The Hebrew word for discouraged is "nu." It is a simple yet revealing term. It means to forbid or to disallow, indicating that the discouragement happens when someone prevents themselves from finishing the tasks the Lord has given them.

The point is that it is not others who disqualify us, nor even the devil himself, but our own surrender to his whispers. Still, the Lord has already given us all the faith that we need to persevere and to succeed. So discouragement loses its power as soon as we choose to believe God's promise more than our own feelings. Back to the text, this is when Nehemiah rose. They say that there's not enough darkness in the whole world to put out the light of one small candle.

Here, Nehemiah had a plan. He had a vision, and the people actually followed. He first scolded them by simply telling them in 4:14, "Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord," he says. This is a great reminder in time of distress: Remember the Lord and all that He did for you already and all that He promised for you in the scriptures. And the great thing is that they did. Israel did.

And something wonderful happened at this point. Let's relish it, because this is rare sometimes. A great miracle happened. In the next verse, God comes into action and immediately, this is when they say: "When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work." That was very fast.

On the one hand, the enemies were suddenly discouraged. God had frustrated their plans, that is, He broke or annulled their plans. How He did this we were not told. And then all Israel returned to the wall, each one to do his work. This is such a great chapter. And the whole book of Nehemiah could have stopped right here. It would have been "Dayenu," right? But there's so much more to learn.

Now, how did Nehemiah build the wall from this point on? Here again, there's a great practical application we can draw. Look at chapter 4, verse 17. This is when we're given perhaps the most famous verse in Nehemiah: "Those who were rebuilding the wall and those who carried burdens took their load with one hand doing the work and the other holding a weapon." This is a powerful and beautiful image which shows us a people devoted to God.

On the one hand, they built, restoring what was broken, raising up the walls of Jerusalem, and on the other, they defended it against the enemy. This picture reflects our own spiritual journey today. On the one side, we work to build our faith, sanctification, and the testimony of the Messiah in the world. And on the other, we must continually stand guard, resisting attacks from the enemy outside and the old man that is within us.

The life of a believer, like Nehemiah's wall, is built through opposition, yet the same God who empowers us to build also equips us to fight. We are both builders and soldiers in His service. However, while verse 17 presents a vivid image of both offense and defense, and while it sees the whole of Israel as one man, "echad," the following verses provide the explanation on how it was done.

After all, one cannot effectively hold a sword in his hand and build with the other at the same time. But together, united in purpose and faith, the whole Israel did the work. What Nehemiah did was to divide the people into two groups. One group was working to build the wall, and the other was standing guard holding spears, shields, bows, and wearing a breastplate. They were so devoted that they slept wearing their clothes so they would always be ready to fight.

But because there were not enough people to be well protected, Nehemiah had a good idea. He stationed a trumpeter, one man who stood with a trumpet at regular intervals so that, as we read in verse 20, at whatever place you hear the sound of the trumpet, you rally yourself there, reminding them of a great promise: "Our God will fight for us." And it worked very well. And the wall was built, and Jerusalem was ready to go.

And the people worked on the wall. Each one had a task. Some repaired the breaches, others restored the gates and towers, while still others were assigned to watch and to guard. Together their unity formed a living picture of cooperation under God's hand. This harmony among the builders reminds us of the body of the Messiah, of the congregation of God. As Peter says in 1 Peter 4:10, "As each one has received a special gift, employ it in serving one another as good stewards of the manifold grace of God."

Every believer has been entrusted with a gift, a calling, a strength, or a ministry, and each one is given not for personal recognition, but for the good of others. When all these gifts operate in love and in obedience, they form one complete "echad," a unity, just as we see it here in Nehemiah's day. The wall stood firm because everyone played their part. Likewise, the body of the Messiah is strengthened when each member serves faithfully, and God receives the glory.

However, one more time we could have wished that the book actually ends with chapter 4. It doesn't. In chapter 5, we face another challenge. Here we are reminded of an essential truth: Every believer must learn patience. If we ever think that there is a point in our sanctification when it is complete, the answer is actually no, neither in this life nor in the life to come. Our growth in holiness is an ongoing journey toward the likeness of God.

We remember that Abraham was tested ten times, and his greatest trial, the Akedah, the binding of Isaac, came when he was about 137 years old. Even after walking so long with God, the test of faith had not ended. Likewise, the Apostle Paul, though deeply mature in his faith, faced four shipwrecks, many of which happened toward the end of his ministry. One might think that such a man had reached a peak of spiritual maturity, yet with God, the path of faith is never truly finished.

A believer's life remains the most exciting and fulfilling adventure imaginable. No experience in this world can match the joy of walking with God, serving Him, growing in His grace, and bearing fruit that lasts for eternity, especially when facing testing and hardship. So then, what do we find in Nehemiah chapter 5? Once again, another test, another opportunity to see the faithfulness of God at work in the midst of opposition.

Here in this chapter, the opposition comes from within. This is when we learn of a serious problem: The rich were abusing the poor and charging exorbitant interest rates. Besides these rich men, the people had to pay high taxes to the king of Persia as well. So then families approached Nehemiah and complained that they could no longer meet their financial needs. They had to mortgage their fields and vineyards, a point repeated four times in this chapter.

That got Nehemiah very angry. First because he himself explains, "I never took a salary." He was living by his own means, not to be a burden to the people. He even does something interesting in verse 13. We're told that he shook out the front of his garment. What he actually did was take out his pocket and say, "Look, I gave everything I have to this people."

But more than that, he says that he himself lent money to those in need from his own pocket, surely without charging any interest. As the Torah required, you can lend to your brother but not charge any interest. These rich people, however, not only abused their poorer brothers but also violated the Law of Moses by charging interest to their own brothers and much more. In fact, the Law of Moses has a lot to say about these things.

It even specified that if one takes a pledge—and I love this law in Deuteronomy chapter 24—it says if one takes a pledge from his brother, they had to keep it no longer than one day, and at the day's end, they had to give it back to the person. Deuteronomy 24:12 says: "You shall in any case return the pledge to him again when the sun goes down, that he may sleep in his own garment and bless you, and it shall be righteousness to you before the Lord your God." I love the way the verse ends: "The Lord your God." He is the one who watches everything. These things matter a lot to Him. Man matters a lot to Him.