“7 I also said to him, ‘If it pleases the king, may I have letters to the governors of Trans-Euphrates, so that they will provide me safe-conduct until I arrive in Judah? 8 And may I have a letter to Asaph, keeper of the royal park, so he will give me timber to make beams for the gates of the citadel by the temple and for the city wall and for the residence I will occupy?’ And because the gracious hand of my God was on me, the king granted my requests. 9 So I went to the governors of Trans-Euphrates and gave them the king’s letters. The king had also sent army officers and cavalry with me.

10 When Sanballat the Horonite and Tobiah the Ammonite official heard about this, they were very much disturbed that someone had come to promote the welfare of the Israelites.” NIV

 

The book of Nehemiah not only teaches important principles for spiritual builders, it also reveals vital insights about spiritual warfare. Someone put it in this way: ‘When the church says, ‘’Let us arise and build’’, the enemy says, ‘’Let us arise and oppose’’ ‘. Building and battling go together. It’s interesting that the great Victorian preacher, C.H. Spurgeon, called his publication company ‘The Sword and trowel.’

The apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 6:!2: ‘’For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.’’

 Time and again we will find ‘Sanballat’ and ‘Tobiah’ and their forces playing against us. They will go in hard, committing many a foul, trying to kick us off the pitch. But we need to always remember that our real fight is not with them. Others are pulling their strings.

We need not fear the battle, but neither should we belittle it. Thankfully, we have armour to wear (Ephesians 6:10-20). Don’t neglect to put it all on.

PRAYER: ‘I shall not fear the battle if thou art by my side, nor wander from the pathway, if thou wilt be my guide.