Well the rumblings of opposition are getting louder as the opposition becomes bolder as the wall is closer to being finished. It’s has to be pretty strong prejudice against the Jews for someone not to want a group to succeed. It doesn’t seem that the opposition has anything to lose by the Jews building a wall (unless they are worried the Jews will become too powerful). If they were really worried about the Jews revolting then I think they would be talking more strategically than just resorting to petty insults about the wall. Which brings up another recurring thing in the Bible and church history…following God’s will is never going to be the cool thing to do in a society. It is too contrary to human nature. So I’m not sure why the church today feels the need to make the church (or more precisely its pastors) seem cool. Jesus and Paul both made it very clear that you will be rejected and face persecution. Which brings up another interesting question…if Jesus and Paul promised persecution, what does it mean if I am not facing persecution?
I am starting to gain a lot of respect for Nehemiah now as I see how he handles the new problems. He started out just overseeing and organizing this construction project, but now he has to become a general of sorts. The way he organizes the men and uses trumpets for communication is pretty genius for a guy who didn’t seem to have previous experience in military. He also asks the men to stay for the night within the city. I wonder if that is for fear of them deserting or for fear of them facing the opposition alone.
The last thing that has bugged me from the beginning is that the king gave this project the OK, so why is he facing so much opposition? The commentary brings up a good point that the king was over 1000 miles away. So by the time word got to him it would be too late. It is an interesting parallel to the our situation. If God didn’t seem so distant to many, would they so willingly defy Him? Probably so…it’s our nature